November+24,+1931

** Al Capone Is Found Guilty **   [|Capone] has been suspected of many crimes but for most of them he has never been tried. He is considered Chicago's worst criminal and is the "Public Enemy Number One." Even if the government ever had evidence that Capone made alcohol illegally according to the [|Volstead Act] "Any person who manufactures or sells liquor in violation of this title shall for a first offense be fined not more than $1,000, or imprisoned not exceeding six months, and for a second or subsequent offense shall be fined not less than $200 nor more than $2,000 and be imprisoned not less than one month nor more than five years." A fine of $2,000 seems of little consequence to someone who makes a yearly profit of six million dollars.  The best way to arrest Capone turned out to be income tax evasion. Capone did everything through others and so was anonymous to income and never filed an income tax return. Luckily an IRS Special Intelligence Unit named Frank Wilson found a record of Capon's income by accident. Also the government received a letter saying that Capone does have an income from Lawrence P. Mattingly.  Capone was first tried in 1931 for income tax evasion for 1925 to 1929. The charges that Capone owed in taxes was $215,080.48. At first Capone pleaded guilty because he plained to plea bargain. Ones this was no longer an option he changed his plea to not guilty. He then tried to bribe the jury but it was changed at the last minute. Capone has been found guilty of five counts giving him eleven years in prison.  One of the most known crimes Capone has been suspected of but will never be tried for is the [|St. Valentine's Day]   [| Massacre]. On February 14, 1920, four men, who are believed to have been working for Capone, walked into 2,122 North Clark Street, a liquor headquarters of anther gang. Because two of the men were dressed as the police it was believed by the men inside that it was just a police raid. Because of this those inside put down there weapons. They were ordered to line up facing the wall. They were fired at with more then 150 bullets. When Capone was suspected he told the police that he was in Florida at the time and so was not tried.  Capone is known for more then being a killer. He was a good business man treating those he worked with not only fairly but generously. People know him for both his violent temper and loyalty. In 1929 after the stock market crash he opened up soup kitchens and paid for food and clothes for those in need.  Still this arrest shows the damaging affects of prohibition. It has lead to not only organized crime through gangs but also more alcohol is in America today then before the 18th Amendment was ratified. In 1927 the amount of illegal speakeasies was around twice the amount of legal bars before. It has also lead to corruption of the government. Capone was paying half of Chicago's police by the year 1927. The 18th Amendment needs to be repealed in order to bring peace back to America.